The Reformer

Australia Sydney

Does Australia use First Past the Post?

Australians head to the polls tomorrow to elect all 151 members of the Federal House of Representatives and 40 of...

Paris

Is there proportional representation in France?

Apart from the UK, France is the only other European democracy not to use some form of proportional representation for...

With first past the post, country and city voters take turns being locked out of government

Far too often, debates around electoral reform are characterised as the idea of making two pie charts match: one pie...

Citizens’ Assemblies are put together like a jury, so we all have an equal chance of joining

What is a Citizens’ Assembly?

Citizens’ Assemblies are often in the news, from the assemblies that led to the referendums on equal marriage and abortion...

Voters in 1945, Holborn

How long have we used First Past the Post? You might be surprised

We’re right to be proud of the long history of parliamentary democracy in Britain. But the way we elect MPs...

Which countries in Europe use PR_

Which European countries use proportional representation?

Of the 43 countries most often considered to be within Europe, 40 use some form of proportional representation to elect...

Proportionality and fairness makes this an improvement on Westminster

How does proportional representation work in Germany?

[Note: Germany updated their voting system for the 2025 election, and introduced new rules. You can find out about that...

Dublin Count Centre

Does Ireland use proportional representation?

Ireland has a long history of using proportional representation and, specifically, the Single Transferable Vote (STV). STV is the Electoral...

Driving Licence Voter ID

How does mandatory voter ID disenfranchise the public?

The government is set to face a legal challenge to its plans to ban people without ID from voting across...

Bishops in the Lords

Why are there Bishops in the House of Lords?

When most people think of Bishops they imagine a man or woman saying prayers in a cathedral, not making the...

America polling station

How the Democrats could win the popular vote but not control of the House

Brenda from Bristol famously cried “not another one!” at the news that we were to hold an election in 2017,...

Voters in 1945, Holborn

In 1951 more people voted Labour than Conservative, yet the Conservatives formed the government

The General Election on this day in 1951 couldn’t have been more decisive. Six years since Labour’s victory in 1945,...